5 Ways to Tell
by loveandallthat
Summary: AU. Toph and Zuko are dating but they aren't really in love. Sokka and Mai take matters into their own hands, and Katara meddles, as usual. Ignore the really annoying A/N in the middle of the story. I'm sorry about that.


My entry for Twilight Rose2's contest, simply due to boredom and a need for someone to tell me what to write

**My entry for Twilight Rose2's contest, simply due to boredom and a need for someone to tell me what to write. If you read this, pleas give me a set of things you want to happen in a story, and as a reward I'll write it! (Duh)**

"Champagne, madam?" a fancy seeming waiter offered Toph.

"Um… sure…" she replied

"It's pretty nice here, isn't it?" Zuko said dreamily.

"Yeah... it really is." Toph smiled.

"Toph, there's a reason I took you here tonight. I figuted it was the best place to talk, to explain things. I figured that there was no better time, and no better place to tell you how much I love you."

"Aw! Zuko, I love you too!"

And at the time she had. But then she hadn't known she loved Sokka, and Zuko had never truly known Mai.

(((Three months later)))

Toph shot a quick, longing glance at Sokka. He was goofing off in front of their other friends, Aang and Katara. Toph wished she was there, enjoying the careless laughter that his company seemed to bring to her when she managed to get away from Zuko. She thought back to the time he had told her he loved her. After that, he said it every day, but it had soon slowed to once a week. He said it every Saturday and Toph was very suspicious he set the specific date. In fact he had.

Zuko's eyes were on Mai. She was chatting with his sister Azula and their friend Ty Lee. He loved the simplicity of her actions, and the way she could be completely cut off from the world, twirling a random knife, and the next, she could really care. He knew, of course, due to his spying tactics when Azula had her friends over. He knew on Saturdays she had a martial arts class, so every Saturday his loneliness reminded him to lie to Toph.

Toph and Zuko hated conflicts. They never really wanted to confront the other person, for fear that they would yell and cause a scene, and that they would lose each other as friends. So they continued their dating game, however much they wished they could stop it.

Sokka noticed Toph checking him out. He immediately blushed and turned away. And then as he caught Zuko watching Mai he had an idea.

"Mai! Mai!!" Sokka screamed, running to her as soon as Toph and Zuko left. Azula and Ty Lee looked at each other. A hot guy yelling for Mai? They knew they had to leave now and give her a chance.

"I'm not in love with you." Mai stated it as a fact, plain and simple. Many guys randomly told her they loved her, she assumed this was one of them.

"Oh, I know, but I have a plan for how you can get together with who you are in love with," Sokka smiled smugly.

"Oh? And who might that be?"

"Zuko." Mai looked around to see who was listening, blushed, and sighed.

"Fine."

Sokka sat at home, typing up a list. At the end, he thought it was pretty good.

**5 Ways For People Named Toph to Find Out if People named Zuko Want to Break Up With Them Too, by Anonymous**

1: Does he tell you that he loves you more routinely more than randomly? Yes/No

2: Did he stop taking you to places he used to? Yes/No

3: Did he stop complimenting you? Yes/No

4: Do you catch him looking at people named Mai? Yes/No

5: Does he act distant when you are around him? Yes/No

"Watcha doing?" Katara looked over Sokka's shoulder.

"AHHHH! Sure, give your brother a heart attack, he'll love you now!" Sokka put his hand on his heart and regained his breath. Katara took this as an excellent opportunity to grab the list while Sokka was distracted. She read it, mumbling quietly.

"Toph and Zuko want to break up with each other?" she asked. Sokka nodded. "Here, I'll give this to her. It will be less suspicious if I give it to her, and then we can make sure that she gets it."

Meanwhile, Mai was doing the same general thing.

**5 Ways to Know Toph Doesn't Like You Anymore, Zuko, by Anonymous**

1: She always stares at Sokka

2: She gives you one word answers

3: She has turned you down for every date you've offered for a month

4: She has been a lot angrier lately

5: She keeps hinting that you're ugly, and we all know that's not true.

(((The next day, at a hangout where they conveniently all go)))

"Oh, hi Mai, have you seen Toph?" Katara asked, as Mai walked by.

"Yeah, she and Zuko are in the courtyard. By the way, if you're going, can you give Zuko this?" she handed Katara a letter in the exact same envelope as Sokka's letter.

Katara ran off, and then collided with something hard. It turned out to be a teacher. "Sorry," she said, and picked up her fallen letters.

"Crap! Which is which? Oh well… this one will be Zuko's, and this will be Toph's."

Due to incredibly poor circumstances, she had chosen the wrong ones. She knew as soon as she handed them to Toph and Zuko and they began to read them and she saw the confused looks on their faces. Katara ran as fast as she could and switched the letters with a smile. "Oops," she said innocently.

Now that Toph and Zuko had both read both letters, they knew what was going on. Somebody was trying to separate them. Zuko sighed, "Want to break up?" he asked. Toph nodded.

(((Later that night)))

Toph, Zuko, Mai, Sokka, Katara, and Aang had all suddenly gone to a bar. Aang and Katara decided it would be a good idea to spy. It probably wasn't.

"And… I likes you… a lots… you gots to goes outs with me!" Sokka was saying.

"I does, doesn't I?" Toph asked. Sokka nodded hyperly, and the suddenly started to drunk kiss.

Zuko looked over at Toph. "So, broke up with your girlfriend, did you?" Mai asked. **(A/N: Talk like Yoda, Mai did)**

"Yeah," Zuko said, "but I'm not sad." He proceeded to kiss Mai, a sweet, soft, not drunken one. Okay, well, then they got drunk.

(((The next morning)))

Toph, Sokka, Mai, Zuko, and Aang all woke up feeling hung over in Katara and Sokka's house. Toph had been on the refrigerator, Zuko was hugging a potted plant, Mai was lurking in a dark closet, Sokka was on the coffee table, and Aang was on the couch. Katara was making breakfast.

"What happened?" Aang asked.

"Well Toph and Sokka kissed at the bar and got drunk, so did Zuko and Mai, I was the designated driver, and Aang… well you hit your head getting out of the car."

And yet strangely… all was well.

**A/N: So there it is. My story. I enjoyed writing this and I obviously hope that Twilight Rose2 enjoys this, and all of you do as well. Reviews appreciated. PM me if you want me to write you a story, I'm running out of ideas and I want random guidelines to follow. I'll write pretty much anything. Sorry to repeat what I said at the top, but idk who reads top notes.**


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